Fallon Ambulance loses an iron man to retirement

Staff Reporter

Saturday

Jan 3, 2015 at 4:00 AMJan 3, 2015 at 12:38 PM

Hanson resident John Rzasa has retired after working for Fallon Ambulance Service for 50 years. Tim Fallon of Milton, the president of Fallon, said: "If it wasn't for John, I wouldn't be president and owner of the largest ambulance service today. He taught me how to work.”

HANSON – John Rzasa has been shot at, beaten up and kicked in the head, all while he was doing his best to help someone else.

Now 69, Rzasa, of Hanson, has retired after 50 years of working for Fallon Ambulance. He was the company’s longest-serving employee in southeastern Massachusetts.

“I’m very emotional about this,” Rzasa said during an interview this week. “I wanted to set a record here. As Frank Sinatra would say, ‘I did it my way.’”

Rzasa saw Quincy-based Fallon Ambulance Service grow from a handful of ambulances and about 20 employees in the mid-1960s to 167 ambulances and 700 employees today.

He worked as an emergency medical technician and ambulance driver from the 1960s through the 1980s, when he switched to dispatching. He spent his later years as an ombudsman.

Rzasa, who has lived in Hanson for 40 years, said he worked a double shift on his last day, last Saturday. He took his wife out in a Fallon vehicle in the middle of the night for one last ride.

Although he worked long hours and enjoyed what he did, he didn’t bring the job home to his wife and two children, Rzasa said.

“We never discussed business. I left what I did at work unless it was something funny.”

Rzasa said he once had to rescue a man who became trapped and seriously injured in a vat at the old Proctor & Gamble plant at the Fore River shipyard in Quincy.

In such situations, “your fear goes away and something kicks in,” he said.

He also had to come to terms with losses.

“Every day is not a honeymoon,” Rzasa said. “You do what you can do and go with it. I did what I could. I wish I could have done more. A few more minutes could have made a difference.”

Rzasa said the highlights of his career include driving an ambulance as part of an escort during a visit by then-Vice President George H.W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth.

Rzasa’s son works for Fallon and will carry on his legacy, but Tim Fallon of Milton, the president of Fallon, said Rzasa’s influence is enormous throughout the company.

Fallon inherited the company from his grandfather Ray Fallon, who founded it in 1923, and his father, Ray Fallon Jr., who passed it down to him. He said Rzasa’s retirement made him weep.

Fallon first began working with Rzasa when he got out of high school. Rzasa was already a veteran employee at the company when he trained Fallon.

“I was young and stupid. If it wasn’t for John, I wouldn’t be president and owner of the largest ambulance service today. He taught me how to work.”

Fallon said Rzasa shared with him priceless memories of his father and his grandfather, who died when Fallon was only 12.

“The greatest gift that John gave me besides work ethic was a bridge between my grandfather and myself,” he said. “He was my partner. We worked so much with each other. He was meticulous. You could eat off any part of his vehicle.”

Fallon said Rzasa was also an extraordinarily careful driver, whether he was on duty or off. He sometimes gave off-duty rides to Fallon and others who needed to get to appointments.

“Driving with him, we called it ‘Driving Miss Daisy.’ He was very safe,” Fallon said.

Fallon doubts that anyone will break Rzasa’s record.

“I don’t know who does 50 years for one company anymore,” he said. “It’s like an the old-time baseball record that will never be broken.”

Rzasa said he never thought much about the public’s appreciation of his work at Fallon Ambulance Service until he looked at Facebook.

“What is really great is all these replies from people on Facebook, saying, ‘We’re gonna miss you. We knew we could call you 24/7. I’d never thought of it that way,’” he said.

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